Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, a subsidiary of e-commerce group Alibaba, has co-led a $15m series C round for China-based genetic testing services provider Prenetics.
The round was co-led by Apis Insurtech Fund I, a venture fund managed by Hong Kong-based Apis Partners, and the company has now raised about $68m in total.
Spun out of City University of Hong Kong in 2009 as Multigene, Prenetics initially provided an app-based genetic testing service to policyholders of insurance partners, helping users improve their diets and fitness regimes and get advice on possible drug reactions.
However, the company has expanded into virus testing and has performed more than 300,000 covid-19 tests in Hong Kong and in the UK. The funding will support research and development as it looks to advance covid-19 testing technologies globally.
Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund co-led a $40m series B round for Prenetics in 2017 with venture capital fund Beyond Ventures that included Yuantai Investment Partners, mFund and eGarden Ventures.
The company secured $10m in a 2016 series A round led by insurance firm Ping An through subsidiary Ping An Ventures. It included Venturra Capital, 500 Startups, Coent Venture Partners and Capital Union Investments.
500 Startups, SXE Ventures, Coent Venture Partners, Danny Yeung and Joel Neoh has provided $2.65m in seed funding for Prenetics in 2014.
